14 DAY TRIAL // March 19 is indisputably Internet Explorer 8's day. Just because Microsoft is gearing up to make available for download the gold version of the browser. However, at IE8's official launch a collection of experiments for rival open-source browser Google Chrome managed to highlight the shortcomings of Internet Explorer 8, and rain on Microsoft's parade. Chrome Experiments is a new project debuted by the Mountain View-based search giant designed to illustrate the fact that JavaScript is nothing short of right at home on Chrome. Not the same can be said about Internet Explorer 8 RC (Release Candidate), although additional browsers such as Firefox and Opera also fail to rise up to Chrome level.
“When Google Chrome launched last September, it included a powerful JavaScript engine, V8, which was built to make the next generation of web applications perform faster in the browser. In the past few months, we've reached out to more than a dozen developers and designers to experiment with V8 and to find new and fun uses for JavaScript,” revealed Aaron Koblin, Google Creative Lab. “The results of their experimentation have been great, with each project turning the browser window into an interactive application, a game, or even a piece of art.”
Chrome Experiments can be accessed from any browser, although the results are bound to be at least somewhat inconsistent. In some cases, Internet Explorer 8 RC will not be able to render JavaScript content at all, because of the lack of support for necessary standards. Google allows all experiments to be viewed in different browsers, and it offers videos depicting how Chrome handles them in order to convince end users to adopt its browser.
“Although you don't need Google Chrome to view the site, some of the experiments may run slower, or incorrectly, in older browsers,” Koblin added. “Naturally, we're looking for more experiments. We will update the site regularly and promote the best projects as Featured Experiments. So, if you have an idea for a web browser experiment, please build it, make it sparkle, and submit it.”
The latest release of Google Chrome is available for download here.